Brewing Coffee 101

The first rule of good coffee is to use fresh whole-bean Arabica coffees. There’s no excuse for a coffee lover not to have fresh coffee on hand at all times, especially with so many quality microroasters serving the country who ship their roasted coffee in airtight bags. Store away from heat, light and moisture, coffee’s arch enemies.

Most experts recommend using coffee one to 14 days after its roasting date; some say it’s best two or three days after roasting (if the coffee is pre-packaged in bags with one-way degassing valves, you should use it within one to 14 days of opening the bags). Either way, after 14 days of exposure to air, its flavor begins to deteriorate significantly.

Second, experiment with a wide variety of quality coffees. There are many terrific single origin coffees out there, as well as a number of vibrant blends. Constantly be on the lookout for great coffees that will blow your mind.

Important reminder: coffee is approximately 99 percent water. If water tastes bad out of your tap, it’s going to taste bad in your coffee. Therefore, every coffee lover should purchase a water filter to ensure that his or her water is clean and pure. Also, soft water, although valued in many instances, is not ideal for brewing coffee. Soft water slows down the extraction/dilution process, which results in over-extracted coffee.

Now the big question, how much coffee to use? Most people mention a common standard of two tablespoons (10 grams) ground coffee for every six-ounce serving of water. Volumetric equivalents are fine, as long as you remember that each coffee will have a different ratio of weight to volume. It’s a good idea to weigh your coffee on a sensitive scale to determine if your measurements are accurate.

When brewing drip coffee, you should target a brew time of four to six minutes. If your brew cycle lasts less than four minutes, you should adjust the grind to a finer consistency. If your brew cycle lasts more than six minutes, you should grind the coffee to a coarser consistency. Brewing it for more than six minutes makes it bitter and over-extracted, hardly a recipe for success.

A good coffeemaker will deliver brewing water with a consistent temperature in the 195 to 205 degree Fahrenheit range. Make sure your brewer meets that requirement. As the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) The Basics of Brewing Coffee mentions, water in that temperature range “liberates the aromatic materials more rapidly and permits proper extraction of other solubles within a reasonable time.” Naturally, the actual coffee beverage will be several degrees cooler because the temperature will decrease once the water is filtered through the coffee.

Coffee should be brewed into preheated thermal containers, or airpots,rather than traditional glass carafes. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that glass carafes are usually housed on warming burners,which keep cooking the coffee well after brewing. The chemical compounds created during the brewing process will change drastically if you continue to heat the coffee. The idea is temperature retention, not temperature addition. Airpots, unlike glass carafes, are constructed to insulate coffee and keep it hot, not re-cook it.

Other tips, courtesy of the SCAA: Let the brew cycle conclude before removing the pot. Do not combine half-empty pots. Mixing old and new coffee produces a less desirable beverage. Discard paper filters after each use. Do not hold coffee in a thermal container (airpot) for more than one hour. Do not stack coffee preportioned in filters on top of one another, this hastens staling. Remove spent coffee grounds immediately after the brew cycle ends. Do not use coffee grounds for more than one brew cycle. Do not reheat brewed coffee. Keep brewing equipment clean and in good working order.

There are other methods of brewing coffee, including the plunger pot method, which produces an excellent cup. However, the plunger pot isn’t ideal for a large operation because it brews in small amounts and is time consuming. Rather, consider using a plunger pot for home use.

Read More About It

• The Coffee Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best Brews by Jon Thorn.

• A Cup of Coffee: From Plantation to Pot, a Coffee Lover's Guide to the Perfect Brew by Norman Kolpas, Bill Milne.

• Confessions of a Coffee Bean: The Complete Guide to Coffee Cuisine (Square One Classics) by Marie Nadine Antol.

• The Joy of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying, by Corby Kummer, James Scherer (Photographer), Evangelia Philippidis (Illustrator), Cirby Kummer.

• "Coffee: How Much is Too Much", a Consumer Reports story about your favorite brew. The facts and new studies will surprise you. Such as findings that it helps fend of Parkinson's disease and lowering the incidence of gallstones.

• International Food Information Council. Caffeine & Health: Clarifying the Controversies. Washington, DC: IFIC Review, 7/98.
  
  Learn all about and help support Sustainably Grown Coffee, which is all we carry.

 
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